The Yellow flash and the Red Haired Host
by Hoki
Summary: This story follows how Minato Namikaze and Kushina uzumaki met, fell in love and lived.
1. The beginning of a fated meeting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nuff said :/**

**Hello, I'm Hoki! I'm a returnee to this site after a long (and I do mean LONG) break. I've decided to write fanfiction again because I keep having all these ideas in my head after long hours of watching anime nonstop. So as to not put the ideas to waste, I decided to collect them and put them in a place where others can appreciate (or make fun of, whichever comes first) it.**

**So as for my comeback piece I decided to write a love story. particularly between the most badass Naruto character (daa, da da daaa!); Minato Namikaze and his wife Uzumaki Kushina. Though I'm not quite good at writing love stories (frankly I suck at it but hey, you never know until you try), i decided to make one anyway since this is the genre I'm definitely going to need a lot of improvements.**

**So to my fellow authors reading this story (and all other stories that I'll be writing in the future), please share with me your insights and advice. I would greatly appreciate it. ^_^**

**Well without further ado (God that was long), I give you chapters I and II**

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><p>Chapter I<p>

"Where are we going auntie?" the red-headed girl asked her aunt while the two walked along a path in the middle of a large forest.

"To Konohagakure," came the reply. "We'll be living there from now on."

The young girl looked at her companion curiously "Konoha? You mean that big ninja village?"

"That's right dear," was the answer that came out of the lady's lips. "You're going to be studying at the Shinobi academy there, in order to be a great ninja in the future."

The girl could only nod in aggreement and looked straight ahead to their destination. After a few minutes of travelling, the pair reached the great gates of Konohagakure. The young girl looked in awe at the large gate and remembered the rumors and stories about the great village; stories like how the first hokage made peace with all the various ninja clans, hereby bringing peace to the country of fire, among other stories. Her companion on the other hand headed straight to the gate guards.

"My name is Hiroko Uzumaki and I came under direct orders of the 3rd hokage" introduced the woman while handing a piece of paper to the one in charge.

The guardsman took the paper and scanned it briefly, then turned his attention to the lady, "Ah yes, one of the ANBU guys came here earlier, told me to let you guys in," he then glanced briefly at the girl and then back to the lady, "So, is she 'that' girl?"

The lady simply nodded in response and returned to the girls' side while the gate slowly opened, she knelt and smiled to the girl before her "Kushina, this will be our new home now, are you excited? Here you can fulfill your dream of becoming a great ninja just like our ancestors."

The girl smiled excitedly,"Yeah! I will "

The lady smiled and then stood up "Well then let's get going!"

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><p>In a certain household inside the village, things are getting busy as well, Actually, almost all of konoha is a buzz today because of the opening of a new school year for hopeful ninjas, as usual, most of Konoha's prominent clans are sending their children as well and this year, expectations are quite high for there had been rumors of extraordinary talent coming from both the well known clans and some dark horses.<p>

"Minato, would you hurry up dear? School's about to start," called Mrs. Namikaze from the kitchen as she was doing the dishes.

"Yes mom, I'm almost ready," was the reply coming from the second floor of the house.

"If you don't hurry, you'll be late," reminded the Namikaze matriarch to her son.

"Relax dear," stated Mr. Namikaze while he read a newspaper and waited at the living room. "It's the first day of school, it's all right to be a little bit late."

Mrs. Namikaze sighed, "Dear, you shouldn't pass your bad habits to your son, I want him to make a good impression on his first day."

Mr. Namikaze let out a hearty laugh and replied "Oh you don't have to worry about it dear. Our son is definitely going to make a good impression. "

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Mr. Namikaze looked towards the direction of the voice and smiled. Below the stairs stood a young blond-haired boy with blue eyes dressed in a white and blue long sleeved hooded jacket, shorts and sandals. Mrs. Namikaze approached the young boy and frowned, then took out a comb from the nearby shelf. "Geez, Minado dear, you should really do something about this hair," she reminded as she combed his hair to the side. After a few moments with the small fix, she re-examined the boy and nodded in satisfaction. "There, all fixed."

Minato looked at himself in the mirror and frowned at the change in his hairstyle from his preferred spiky to a one-sided clean combed style which didn't really make him look any better but rather the opposite and simply sighed 'If I fix my hair like I wanted, mom will just mess it up again ,' he thought.

"Well then son, shall we get going?" Mr. Namikaze stated, he himself already at the door.

"wait, " Mrs Namikaze exclaimed before running to the kitchen and then returning with a two layered lunch box and handing it to her son "This is your lunch dear, I made it special."

Minato took the box with a smile "Thanks mom!" then put it inside his backpack, he then ran to the door and looked back one last time at his mother "Well then mom, we'll be going!"

Mr. Namikaze simply nodded to his wife and the two set off to the Direction of Konoha ninja Academy, as Mrs. Namikaze bid the father and son farewell. Halfway through the walk, Mr. Namikaze stopped and looked at his son, "My, you r hair looks awful, let me fix that for ya', " then gave him a little rub on the head, messing up the hair his wife fixed. "There, all done."

"Thanks dad!" Minato exclaimed happily, "I wouldn't want to fix it in front of mom because she'll just rearrange it."

"You look better in that hairstyle, like your old man!" Mr. Namikaze exclaimed and the two laughed in agreement. They then resumed the walk towards the academy, with Mr. Namikaze reminding his son of the pointers of what to do and not to do while he studies as well as recounting a few of his past experiences while the young boy listened. Soon the pair arrived at the academy and as to be expected, there are a lot of people gathered by the gate, mostly parents who are seeing their children off and the students themselves. Mr. Namikaze looked at the crowd before them then looked at his son. "Are you nervous?"

Minato shook his head and smiled as he looked at the crowd, "Not a bit, but I'm pretty excited."

Mr. Namikaze tapped his son shoulder and exclaimed, "That's my boy! Now, go and make your old man proud. "

Minato nodded and smiled "I'll try, but don't expect too much of me!" He then ran to the gate while waving farewell to his father. Mr. Namikaze waved back with as small smile then started walking to the Hokage's office, content that his son , regardless of what he said earlier, will surely become a shinobi that he can be proud of.


	2. First impressions

Chapter II

"The Academy is filled with quite a number of students on its first day, don't you think?" One of the Chuunins remarked as all the faculty observe the lively scene from the stage while some of the other faculty gathered up the students for the ceremonial welcoming ceremony.

"Oh, I see the Hyuuga family sent in their twins," exclaimed another faculty member while spotting two identical looking boys bearing the Hyuuga trademark eyes. "I'm sure one…no both of them will be top of the class these year."

"I recognize that one," exclaimed yet another faculty. "That kid is definitely from the Uchiha clan," he pointed at a young boy who was bearing the all popular Uchiha crest. "He'll definitely be the top student this year."

"I know," remakred another faculty member who was standing next to the one who pointed out the Uchiha child. "I hear he's quite skilled despite his age, nothing less from an Uchiha I suppose."

The faculty members continued identifying other clan's young representatives until one of them realized that its time to start the ceremony. Hurriedly they made their preparations and signalled each other to begin. After the obligatory ceremonies, an announcer appeared on stage.

"And now, dear students, We will hear a few welcoming words from our deares and most respected leader. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for our very own Third Hokage; Hiruzen Sarutobi!"

Polite applause was heard from the students as the 3rd Hokage made his way up the stage. He glanced around at the crowd of young ones looking at him and smiled "I am always happy to be here in this ceremony to see all of the would be shinobis and Kunoichis that will one day become an important part of the village. I'm sure most of you are now looking at me and thinking 'One day, I'll be the Hokage' and there's really nothing wrong with that because I am sure that one day, one of you will be inheriting my title. Another thing that I am sure of is that all of you will become splendid konoha ninjas someday. I hope that I am not mistaken with this assumptions and wish all of you the best of luck in all of your studies. I hope that one day, I'll be able to meet some of you in the future as full fledged Konoha shinobi. Thank you."

Polite applause is again heard as the Third Hokage went down and greeted the students, before being escorted back to the Hokage office. As he sat behind the desk he took a short puff from his pipe and smiled. 'The future of Konoha looks pretty bright,' was the thought that came to his mind.

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><p>Minato stood in awe as he watched the third Hokage deliver his speech. After the ceremony he headed straight to his class overhearing some of his schoolmates say things like how they want to be like the 3rd Hokage someday. 'The 3rd Hokage sure is quite the guy, Someday, I'll be like that, just you wait.' Thought the young boy as he walked towards his class. Upon entering, he scanned the room and headed for the unoccupied seat at the third row. He watched as students started entering the room, 'I hope this'll be an interesting class.'<p>

A female Jounin entered the room after a few minutes, "All right class, take your seats!" The students immediately took their reespective she was introducing herself and explaining the rules of the academy, Minato looked around and noticed that the room is almost full, save for an empty seat beside him.

"Hey did you hear, There's supposed to be a new student coming in from another country coming here to our class," whispered the student seated in front of Minato to his seatmate.

"Yeah, I did…" came the seat mate, "I heard she came from some far away country that was recently destroyed."

Minato took note of that particular detail and thought for a bit. 'A country that was recently destroyed…I guess that would be the Whirlpool country. I do remember dad saying something about that. Some refugees were brought here since Konoha and that country are allies although there was nothing that can be done about all the villages that were destroyed.'. Letting out a sigh, the young boy thought 'I guess I should be friendly with the new student, so she'll get used to the life here in Konoha, Yeah, I'll do that'

"All right! Listen up…"exclaimed the teacher, "Today, we'll have a student coming from the village of Uzushio. She just moved here three days ago so make sure that you treat her well, ok? " After the students' chorused answer. She nodded to the red headed girl standing by the door and motioned her to come in. Minato looked at the girl curiously as the girl stood in front of the class.

"Hello, I'm Kushina Uzumaki…" exclaimed the young red headed female after bowing, "pleased to meet you all."

"Alright, now where to seat you…" the Jounin-instructor thought while looking around. "Ah, there we go." She looked at Kushina and then back to the class "Kushina, your seat will be next to that blond boy over there, all right?"

Kushina looked at the direction where the teacher was pointing and saw the boy in question. 'That's my seat-mate?' she thought. She sighed 'I wanted to sit next to at least a reliable looking student, I guess I'll be the reliable one in this case.' The boy looked at her and smiled and she let out a sigh again 'Oh boy, I guess my academy days will be a rough ride.'

"Hey there, I'm Minato…" the boy said with a smile while extending his right hand to shake. "Let's get along well."

Kushina looked at him for a few seconds and sighed 'Geez, he looks like a simpleton.' She took the outstretched hand and shook it, as to not embarrass him, "Yeah, I'm Kushina, pleased to meet you," she replied as cheerfully as she can although in her mind she just wanted to get it over with.

"All right kids…" exclaimed the instructor, "since this is the first day, I'd like each one of you to introduce yourselves and tell the class what your dreams in the future are. I'll give you two minutes to thik of what you'll say then after that we'll start." The class went into a murmur as some students talked to their seat mates on what to say. Kushina bit her lip as she thought of what to tell her classmates. 'To be a great Kunoichi?, Nah too plain, To be a strong ninja? Nope, too common, Its got to be something that will impress everybody…' She continued to think until the time limit expired. One by one, the instructor called out names from the roster in random order and all of them said the same basic things; to be a great ninja, to be like the 3rd hokage, to make lots of money and other similar ideas. "Next, Uzumaki Kushina," announced the instructor.

Kushina sprang to her feet and glanced at her classmates, all who were looking at her and are quite interested in what she has to say. "My is Kushina Uzumaki and I…I…" she paused nervously and tried to remember the thoughts she had before being called.

"You can do it!" Minato whispered softly, just loud enough for the female to hear.

'Oh shut up, sissy!' Kushina thought in annoyance. "I…" She took a deep breath and thought 'all right here goes nothing' She closed her eyes and practically yelled.

"I WANT TO BE KONOHA'S FIRST FEMALE HOKAGE!"

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><p><em><strong>There goes the first two chapters. I hope i did it well enough. Please leave your comments and again, no Flames please ^_^<strong>_


	3. The challenge

**A/N: Hey I'm Back, I thank those people who read the first two chapters, and special thanks to Maelynae-san for liking my work enough to wait for future episodes. I do apologize for the long wait since real life's a drag. Anyway, without further ado here are the next two chapters. **

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><p>Chapter III<p>

"I WANT TO BE KONOHA"S FIRST FEMALE HOKAGE!"

Kushina slowly opened her eyes and looked around, everyone has their eyes on her and some are already glaring at her while others were whispering. 'Shoot! I must've overdid it, damn I screwed up!' were the thoughts that ran in her mind as she slowly sat down. She sighed, knowing full well that she just embarrassed herself in front of the class on her first day, of all times.

Minato looked at their classmates and then back at Kushina. He immediately felt that everyone was thinking badly of her so he tapped her on the shoulder and spoke with a smile."Hey, good job!"

Kushina glared at the boy who simply continued smiling at her. 'What is up with this guy! Is he trying to play goody-two-shoes or something? Geez!' were the thoughts that ran on her already tired mind. She decides to just play along. "Thanks." she replies.

"Next, Namikaze, Minato!" announced the instructor.

"Oh, I'm up, excuse me." Minato said as he stood up. He looked at his classmates then at his red haired seatmate and was surprised that the latter was looking at her curiously. 'Oh, she's interested in what I have to say, eh? Perfect!' thought the young boy.

Kushina looked at Minato while he stood silently. 'Well then Mr. Goody-two-shoes, let's see what you got,' she thought in anticipation. 'I bet you'll say something like I want to be like the 3rd Hokage, Ha! As if…you probably won't get past chuunin,'she added, silently berating the blond.

"Hey everybody, My name is Minato Namikaze, pleased to meet you all," said Minato as he introduced himself, while keeping an eye around for any reactions. 'So far, so good,' he thought. "As for my dream…"

Kushina moved slightly closer so that she could clearly hear him. 'All right, say something plain and be like any other kid around here, At least mine was unique,' she thought proudly.

"My dream is to become the Hokage…" Minato stated.

Kushina let out a small grin. 'See? I thought so! No originality whatsoever,' she thought triumphantly. She leaned back to her seat and shifted her interest somewhere else, assuming that Minato has finished his simple speech.

"I want to be a great Hokage that everyone in the village will respect," continued the blond boy. Kushina looked at the others and some were nodding in either agreement or appreciation while some females were whispering and giggling as Minato looked their way, some even winked.

'What the hell,' Kushina thought angrily. 'I say I want to be a hokage, I get glared at, when he said it, he gets cute winks and nods of agreement? Is it because I'm new to this village?'

Minato sat down and sighed, "Whew, glad that's over." He turned and looked at Kushina and was surprised that the female was glaring at her. "Uh…yes?"

"Hmph!" was Kushina's reply before looking away.

Minato chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, 'What'd I do?' he thought.

After everyone in the class recited, the instructor started the lesson for that day. After about three hours and several instructors later, the bell rang for lunch break; sending most of the students out to buy food while some brought out their lunchboxes and ate either alone or with a group. Minato himself took out his lunchbox and opened it, revealing a neatly prepared rice, egg and vegetable lunch. "Hey, Uzumaki-san would you like to…" Minato asked but stopped when he didn't see his see his seatmate. "Oh I guess she went out, it's a shame since I wanted to share my lunch with her, oh well," he added with a shrug, then started to eat. "Mmmm, tasty! As expected from mom!"

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><p>Kushina went to the cafeteria since she really didn't have anything to prepare at home being just moved to Konoha yesterday. She lined up at the cafeteria and ordered a simple beef ramen. She sat on a lone table near the door and started eating in silence.<p>

"May I sit here?" came a soft feminine voice

Kushina looked up while still in the middle of eating her noodles and saw a female with dark hair and eyes, holding a lunch tray and waiting for her reply. She simply nodded, being unable to speak with her mouth full.

"Thank you," came the other female's reply and sat at the empty seat in front of Kushina. "You're Kushina Uzumaki aren't you? "

Kushina swallowed the ramed she was eating and nodded before replying, "Yeah, and you are?"

"Oh excuse me…" replied the other female apologetically, "My name is Mikoto Uchiha."

Kushina looked at the girl before her curiously, "Uchiha, you mean like strongest-clan-in-Konoha Uchiha?" Mikoto simply nodded and Kushina almost spat out her food.

"Are you all right?" Mikoto asked Kushina.

"Y-Yeah…" Kushina replied, "I'm surprised somebody from that clan is talking to somebody like me."

"Well it's not like I'm from the main family. Our clan is quite big so everyone simply assumes that all Uchiha are special." Mikoto replied "Some of us are really not used to that title. Anyway, what you said earlier was simply so amazing."

Kushina looked at her curiously, "Something I said?"

Mikoto nodded, "Yes, that part about wanting to be the first female hokage was so amazing."

"Ah, that…" Kushina replies sheepishly. "I just wanted to impress everybody that's all."

"Well you did make quite an impression all right!" came another female voice, this time, more rough and boyish sounding.

The two females turned to where the voice came from and saw a female with shaggy dark hair, narrow eyes and red markings on her face. The newcomer looked at Mikoto and slashed a grin "So you were with the new girl."

"Yes…" came Mikoto's reply "she's pretty nice and friendly".

Kushina looked at Mikoto's friend curiously. "Oh, this is Tsume Inuzuka," stated Mikoto as she introduced the other female.

"Yo, nice meeting you,' stated Tsume, showing a rather toothy grin.

Kushina nodded and smiled. "Nice meeting you too, I'm Kushina Uzumaki," she stated while shaking Mayura's hand. "Wait, you guys heard what I said earler, so that means…"

Mikoto nodded with a smile "Yes, we're in the same class. "

"Let's get along well", added Tsuma.

Kushina nodded with a smile. The three females chatted for a while longer before heading back to their room. When they returned, they noticed a crowd of female students gathered around a certain boy.

"Isn't that your seatmate Kushina?" inquired Mikoto.

"Yeah…" Kushina replied, "I wonder what the fuss is?" The three entered the room and observed the rather peculiar event.

"Can you hear them Tsuma?" Mikoto asked the Inuzuka Genin.

"Yeah…" came Tsuma's reply.

"What's it about?" asked Kushina.

"They're just questioning him about stuff, no big deal," came the reply. "Though I'd say they're just interested in the kid because he's a looker." Tsuma added with a chuckle.

"Pfft…" Kushina replied, "He looks like a wimp to me."

Suddenly, all the female genin gathered around Minato turned to Kushina's direction and glared at her. Kushina looked at them with a frown, "What? something wrong?"

"Aren't you being so high and mighty miss 'I want to be the first female Hokage'", Sarcastically replied one of the female students.

"She probably thinks she's better than Minato-chan here," added another.

"Of course I am…" Kushina shot back. "I'll prove it to every one of you guys!"

The girls surrounding Minato started gathering around Kushina's group, giving them thertining looks and insults. Kushina shot back with some insults of her own and soon after Tsuma and Mikoto joined and backed up their newfound friend. Soon, the remainder of the class were gathered around the group.

"H-Hey, can't we all just get along?" Minato interrupted the group before anything serious happened. "We're all classmates here, aren't we?"

Minato's groupies acknowledged "Minato-chan's" request and backed off. As the "leader" of the group passed by Kushina, she whispered softly to the red-haired genin's ear.

"Better watch your back, tramp."

"Why you little…!" Kushina exclaimed in rage as she tried to attack the other female, only to be restrained by both Mikoto and Tsuma.

"H-Hey! Calm down," Tsuma exclaimed.

"Let go of me Inuzuka-san! I'm going to teach her a lesson!" Kushina exclaimed as she struggled to break free from the two girls' grip.

"Kushina-san, please calm down…" pleaded Mikoto. "If you do that, the faculty will certainly punish you!"

"Yeah, just ignore her and her groupies!" Tsuma added.

Kushina calmed down after a few seconds and sighed, "Oh all right…" The two females slowly let go of the red-head's arms and sighed in relief. "Thanks, guys and sorry if I got you involved," she added.

"Nah, don't mention it." Tsuma replied with a grin. "I kinda know, some of those girls so if they ever trouble you in any way, just give me a call!"

"I'll also help out if I can, after all being an Uchiha does have its advantages," Mikoto added with a wink.

"Thanks guys." Kushina replied.

Minato looked at the three ladies and sighed 'Whew glad that's over, still I should apologize to Uzumaki-san for causing her and her friends some trouble.' "Um…" he stated as he approached the three ladies.

Kushina heard Minato's voice and immediately pointed at him. "YOU! I don't really know what you told those girls but whatever it is, I'm not going to fall for it. You think you're so special just because of your little speech and your goody-two-shoes smile? Well I, Uzumaki Kushina, will prove that you're just a flake and wimp. I'm going to get ahead of you in all our subjects so be prepared!"

Minato, as well as Tsuma and Mikoto, and probably everyone who was in the room at that particular time, turned and looked at the bold declaration made by the unknown red-head who just moved from another country in sheer astonishment. Kushina's two friends even had both of their mouths wide open in shock at her statement.

Minato looked at the red headed female student curiously, 'Great another challenge, this time from the new kid. And I thought Fugaku and Hiashi were the only pushy ones.' but somehow unlike the previous challengers, he felt that this was one challenger he absolutely could not refuse. He nodded and smiled at Kushina,

"All right I accept your challenge!"

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><p><strong>AN: Don't be too surprised if I used Kiba and Sasuke's mothers as Kushina's friends since they strike me as the first ones to befriend Kushina if ever (though I have no basis for this, just thought it was fun). So if you have any complaints, go cry to a nearby judge ^_^. **


	4. Physical Ed

**A/N: This is probably the longest chapter I've written so far, although I shouldn't complain since I've seen a lot of other fanfic chapters longer than this. **

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><p>CHAPTER IV<p>

The rest of the day continued for the students as the break went to a close. After a few more hours of lectures about the essentials of ninja techniques and all sorts of other important and relevant information, the bell rang again, signaling the end of the class for that day. As all of the students went out of their respective classes, Minato waved goodbye to his red headed seatmate now turned academic rival before heading out of the room. Kushina simply ignored the friendly gesture and focused on packing her things.

"hey, that was one bold challenge you got there," Tsume exclaimed.

"I'm going to prove to that flake that he's nothing but a bag of hot air." Kushina replied, confidently. "I may not look like it, but I'm quite good at ninja stuff."

Tsume tapped her on the shoulder and sighed, "I commend you for your confidence but that boy isn't what you think he is."

Kushina looked at the Inuzuka girl curiously, "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember your score in the admission exam?" Tsume asked.

Kushina thought for a while, trying to remember the score she got in the admissions. Though technically, no one who takes the admission exam fails it, it serves as a gauge for how much a ninja hopeful knows about the world of ninjas. Typically those that get low grades stay longer in the academy than those with high grades because of the time needed to train such students to be competitive ninjas but sometimes, those who get high grades fare as good as, if not, worse than those with low grades because the test simply measures how much stock knowledge a student has, and does not gauge how skilled a student really is in terms of practical approach of knowledge.

"Uh…" Kushina replied while scratching the back of his head, "I got a pretty bad score, but not bad compared to some of the other students. I mean the only subject I totally flunked was ninjutsu."

"Yeah, same as me," Tsume stated with a bit of embarrassment as well as she remembered her test results. "But anyway, I heard from my mom that the son of one of her former mission partners topped the academy exam. She warned me to look out for a blond, blue eyed kid with the surname Namikaze."

Kushina stopped what she was doing and looked at her friend skeptically, not wanting to believe what she just heard, "That flake was the top student in the entrance exam!"

Tsume nodded, "Yeah, hard to believe that somebody like that is actually super smart." She held Kushina on the shoulders and grinned "Well, if you're really serious about what you said earlier, I'd be more than willing to lend you a hand. "

Kushina smiled at the Inuzuka clan female and also held on to her friend's shoulders, "Yeah, let's give him a run for his money!"

"Hey, you guys…" Mikoto called out from outside the classroom. "It's getting late, let's go."

The two females joined their friend and all three walked out of the building, chatting about random stuff as they went on their way. However, they were stopped by a group of students, three of them coming from the same class as the three females, while the others were unfamiliar faces, presumably from other classes.

"Look…" one female from the group exclaimed "it's the future Hokage, together with her friends," saying this with a distinctive mocking tone.

"Yeah, she'll be the first female Hokage someday," added another before laughing.

"What's so funny?" Kushina asked while glaring at the group.

One of the girls from the group; the same one that Kushina had an argument earlier walked up front and stood face to face with the red haired teen. "Listen you…" she spoke firmly "I don't know what's your deal here but I really don't like people like you who think they're better than everybody else. You're nothing more than a tramp that just moved to this village so do not go thinking too highly of yourself."

Kushina grinned at the girl and let out a short chuckle. "Oh, are you threatened by this tramp just because I said that? You need more training, apparently."

Angered by Kushina's words. the girl raised her hand to slap the red head but she was stopped by Tsume who looked at the girl coldly. "Try that again and I'll break this arm. MIkoto and some of the kids also stepped forward ready to turn the confrontation into a full scale catfight. However, before anyone could jump at each other's throats, a chuunin-instructor noticed the small commotion and both parties were forced to flee the academy quickly.

"Hey, guys…" Kushina said to her two friends between gasps of breath after they have reached a considerable distance away from the academy. "Thanks for sticking up for me, even though I'm just new to this village."

"Don't worry about it," came Mikoto's reply "Actually we've heard about your situation from our parents since some of their new colleagues were from the Whirlpool country. When I learned that somebody from there will be attending our class. I decided to help you get used to the life here," she added with a smile.

Tsume slung an arm around Kushina's neck and spoke with a smile, "Yeah, and besides, you're one interesting kid, we could have lots of fun together."

Kushina smiled at the two girls, "My house is nearby, let's stop by eat some snacks. I'll introduce you to m y aunt."

"Sounds good to me, I'm a sucker for free food!" Tsume replied excitedly.

"If it's ok with your aunt, then we'll be happy to," came Mikoto's reply.

The three began walking towards the market district, chatting merrily as they headed towards Kushina's apartment complex. What they were unaware of was there was somebody observing them from a nearby pole. He peered at the group, remaining undetected, and when he determined the group was safe, he headed back to his home with a satisfied smile.

"I guess I have nothing to worry about, the Inuzuka kid and Fugaku's cousin should be able to do a better job."

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><p>The next day, Kushina frantically ran to school to avoid being late, meeting Tsume along the way and making it at the academy at the nick of time. Classes today were mostly physical ed, so they were mostly held at the training grounds. Kushina genuinely impressed everyone by showing off her athleticism, doing the exercises with relative ease. The only female to keep up with the red head was Tsume, matching Kushina's records in some of the tests.<p>

"Good Job" Tsume noted as the females rested after Mikoto finished her rounds.

"Thanks…" Mikoto replied after taking a drink of water, "Still, it wasn't as good as yours or Kushina-chan's."

"Yeah Kushina, you almost broke some of the records for some of the exercises. How'd you get to be so athletic?" Tsume asked the redhead that sat to her right.

"Well…" Kushina replied "since I was little my parents used to make me run through obstacle courses. Every day they would make the courses trickier and the time it takes to complete them shorter. If I didn't finish the course, I wouldn't eat breakfast or suffer punishment of some sort. I barely make most of the courses they set up and sometimes I don't even get to finish it at all."

"Are you serious?" Tsume asked, a bit surprised about her friend's revelation. Kushina replied with a nod.

"What kind of obstacle courses did your parents make?" Mikoto asked.

Kushina fell silent for a while and tried to remember some of the courses she went through. "Well there were those with trap doors, exploding tags, blade shooting traps and snares," she replied "I almost died doing some of those courses, too."

Tsume and Mikoto looked at Kushina in shock and in awe, while Kushina continued to tell stories about her training when she was little, laughing at times when she recounted when her father, who built the courses, occasionally fell victim to the traps he set up himself or fell victim to her own trap designs. The girls continued talking while the rest of the class continued on doing the exercises.

"Oooohhh!" the crowd suddenly exclaimed.

Kushina and the others turned to see what the commotion was and saw Minato at the end of the track field and all some perplexed students and teachers looking at a stopwatch at the starting line. He wiped sweat off his brows and walked calmly towards the physical ed instructor. Kushina ran to the crowd and tried to take a peek at what they were so surprised about.

"So sensei, how did I do?" Minato asked.

The instructor looked at Minato then looked at the stopwatch, then looked at one of the other teachers who were with him. He showed his colleague the time on the stopwatch and the other instructor flipped open a small book that he was holding. Kushina saw the word RECORDS written on the book's cover then saw the instructor holding the book nod to the physical ed. instructor.

"Amazing!" exclaimed the instructor. "You broke the Academy record for the 100 meter dash…no, you shattered it!"

A crowd started gathering around Minato, full of praises and words of amazement for the young boy while others were spreading the word about the news but that wasn't the only thing he did. By the end of the class, he had broken almost all the academy records at every physical competency test. Aside from Kushina, Mikoto and Tsume, everybody was giving praises to the blond boy.

"Wow, he sure is amazing." Tsume commented before giving Kushina a light nudge "looks like you got your work cut out for ya."

Mikoto saw that Kushina was keeping quiet the whole time and noticed that some of the "Minato fan girls" as they called them were looking at the redhead mockingly. "H-Hey, don't get upset, I'm sure there are some things he's not good at," the Uchiha girl exclaimed, as she tried to calm Kushina down.

"Yeah, well physical ed. ain't one of them, that's for sure," Tsume stated matter-of-factly.

"Tsume-chan!" Mikoto exclaimed while glaring angrily at the Inusuka girl.

"So, what do you think now miss future Hokage?" exclaimed the girl mockingly.

"Back off…" Tsume replied, stepping between the girl and Kushina "Kushina trumped your score in all exersices."

"That may be true," replied the girl with a hint of annoyance of that fact, "but I wasn't the one she challenged but Minato-chan, and even you can tell who is better."

"Is that so?" Kushina finally muttered.

"Yeah," the girl exclaimed proudly "even you should realize that you are not in the same caliber as Minato-chan."

Kushina started chuckling which turned into a full blown laugh, loud enough for everyone to hear. She them exclaimed, "So what if he broke all the records? Holding and breaking a few records doesn't mean you'll be a Hokage someday anyway so who cares?"

Every student glared at her after she delivered her short speech. Tsume simply grinned, impressed by her friend's confidence and Mikoto smiled, relieved that her friend wasn't disheartened at all.

"She's got a point," Minato suddenly stated, turning the attention back to him. "Nothing less from the girl who'll be Hokage someday." He walked towards Kushina as the redhead looked at him with a frown "I know I accepted your challenge yesterday, but now I'm issuing my challenge to you," stating this before extending his right hand, "A race to the hokage title."

Kushina's frown turned into a grin and immediately shook Minato's right hand. "You're on!"

When the day ended, Kushina and her friends were talking about nothing in particular as they walked home when a thought crossed the red-head's mind. "Hey, I know I said that holding the school athletic records didn't mean anything when it comes to being Hokage but I'm just curious, who was the previous record holder?"

Mikoto and Tsume looked at each other and started giggling after hearing her question.

"What?" Kushina asked, a bit curious but slightly annoyed at her friends' reactions.

"You really want to know?" Tsume asked, trying to hold back her amusement.

"Of course!" Kushina exclaimed.

Tsume couldn't help but giggle and muttered out "Miko-chan, you tell her who it was."

Mikoto chuckled and whispered to Kushina's ear. After whispering, she looked at her red haired friend and smiled.

Kushina looked at the two curiously, "Who's that?" Tsume kept giggling while Mikoto simply smiled innocently. "Hey, who is that person? Is he a legendary ninja? I haven't heard that name before?"

"You'll figure it out someday." Tsume exclaimed as she slung an arm around Kushina. "Although I think its best if you didn't."

Kushina pouted in annoyance while Tsume continued giggling and Mikoto simply kept her lips shut and smiled sweetly whenever Kushina asked her about the name she whispered. Finally, the redhead exclaimed in exasperation.

"Come on guys, who is this Hiruzen Sarutobi!"

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><p><strong>AN:I just made up that thing about the Konoha academy entrance exam since I learned that there is no such thing in the actual ninja academy according to the wikia, but I thought there is some form of gauging the student's knowledge with the ninja world. Anyway, who is this Hiruzen Sarutobi guy? I've never heard of him either (LOLJK ;) ). Again, I hope you like these two chapters. Please keep the constructive comments coming.**

**Bye-nii!**


	5. Attack of the killer tomato

**Hey there, sadly I only managed to finish one chapter after a long time so I would like to apologize to those who have been tuning in (I've been sick and while recovering I went to work, making my sickness worse. Then work became hectic all of a sudden .). I would also like to thank all those people who have read and liked my story and to those who left comments about how much they liked it (Fluffyfrog and DreamingReverie, thanks guys ^_^). I'll try to upload the next chapter on the weekend if I can manage it.**

**Anyway, here's chapter 5 **

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><p>Chapter V<p>

_The night was not the most peaceful of nights; in fact, it was a night of chaos. Fires ravaged every corner of the village blazing brightly and eating up everything standing in their way. People were running in all directions, some were tryin_

_g to flee the disaster that has fallen unto their village while most were chasing down those who are trying to escape. The sounds of clashing metal travelled through the air, as dead bodies began piling up on the streets, on rooftops, everywhere. Aside from the echo of blades came the screams of death, cries of anguish, voices of terror and agony can be heard all around._

_It was as the same as hell opening its gates right under the village_

_But it was not hell. It was however, the closest thing a living soul will get if he ever believed that such a place existed._

_All she could see were figures of people, bodies without faces. As the place where she was in resembled a haze, but it was clear that she was part of what was happening. She felt warmth as a figure knelt down and hugged her tightly. She saw the figure's mouth move, as if speaking to her but no words came out of that mouth. And as she was being taken away, she saw shadows capture the figure that was with her earlier. Before the figure became a part of the shadows, she heard a distinctive voice, an all too familiar voice. A voice she knows she recognizes but somehow the memory flees her when she tries to remember._

"_Live for our sakes, Kushina."_

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><p>Kushina opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling after being forced awake by the dream she just saw. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. She looked around her room. It was dark, as the lights were all off, save for the faint moonlight coming from outside. She sighed and muttered to herself "That dream, that voice…" She lay back down and pulled the blankets over herself and shut her eyes, hoping to not see the same dream when she gets back to sleep.<p>

Kushina let out a long yawn as she and her friends were walking to school. It has been a week since school started and of course, waking up early has become more of a challenge to the young redhead as each day passes.

"What's wrong? Didn't you get enough sleep?" Mikoto asked.

"Yeah…" came Kushina's reply after another yawn, "I keep having these nightmares these past couple of days."

"Are you all right?" Mikoto asked worriedly.

"What kind of nightmares?" Tsume asked curiously.

Kushina remained silent for a few moments, she considered telling them what she saw but decided against it, 'It would be better if I just keep it to myself; I wouldn't want to trouble them with my problems' was the thought that came to her. She shook her head and smiled "Nah, I guess I forgot, don't worry about it ok?"

Mikoto and Tsume looked at each other then looked at Kushina who let out another long yawn. The Inuzuka girl simply shrugged but the young Uchiha girl sighed worriedly, both of them had one thing in their minds; Kushina simply didn't want to burden others with her personal problems. Mikoto gently touched Kushina's shoulder, surprising the half asleep redhead who stopped walking and turned around quickly

"W-What?" Kushina exclaimed.

"Kushina –chan," Mikoto stated, her voice full of concern, "I don't really know what's causing these nightmares, but if you have any problems, you can share it with us."

Kushina looked at the Uchiha girl and was genuinely touched by her words of concern. She smiled and held the hand that was touching her "Thank you Miko-chan, I'm really fine, so you don't have to worry and if I do have any problems, you'll be the first to know."

Mikoto smiled, sensing Kushina wasn't lying about what she said and nodded. "I'll help you in any way I can."

Tsume pulled her friends close to her tightly and grinned at the two, "Hey, aren't you guys forgetting about me? We're supposed to be a posse here."

"Of course, Tsume-chan," Mikoto managed to say through the bear hug

"I can't…breathe" Kushina uttered out.

Tsume let go of her friends and all three girls laughed. They resumed walking to the school and as soon as they got to the school gate, they were greeted by a group of students, headed by a rather large male kid and beside her was a female with an all too familiar face.

"I've been waiting for you…tomato"

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><p>Minato was running through the streets in an effort to make it to the academy in time. He slept late last night because of training and studying and woke up way past his usual time so he skipped breakfast and literally dashed out of their house. "Geez, of all the times to be late," mumbled the blond male, "I just hope I make it there on time." As he approached the gate he noticed a crowd had gathered by the gate entrance. He pushed and weaved his way through the crowd and when he got to the front to see what the spectacle was, the sight that greeted him can only be described by one word.<p>

Shocking.

There were about seven boys lying either unconscious or groaning in pain on the ground while the girls involved were either in pain or crying nearby. Minato saw two familiar faces on the other side of the commotion; one was the Uchiha girl who was holding her cheek and sat at the edge of the general area of the fight. She appeared to have been hit on her face, evidenced by the bruise she was trying to cover with her hand. She had the look of worry written all over her face, and she was probably crying all throughout the event as she tended to the Inuzuka girl who was lying on her lap. The Inuzuka kid was obviously in pain, with several bruises and scratches on her face and arms and her clothes were dusty. She was obviously involved with the brawl. When he looked for the third person in their group, he was truly surprised by the sight.

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><p>Kushina glared at the boy who committed the grave mistake of hitting MIkoto as she sat on top of the nearly unconscious kid. She pulled him up by the collar of his shirt and spoke "Who are you calling tomato now, huh?" The poor kid simply grunted in pain as he received more punches to his already swollen face before being forced away by one of the faculty members. She struggled to break free from the grip and managed to do so only to return to her victim and add more punches, until she was forced away again, this time by two faculty members. She was taken to the disciplinary office together with her friends and some of the other students involved who were able to move while the others who were not were taken to the infirmary.<p>

"What happened?" asked the councilor in charge as several faculty members came in with a very messy Kushina together with several very beaten up kids.

"These kids were fighting in the grounds a while ago." replied one of the instructors.

"They started it," exclaimed Kushina while glaring at her victims, who looked away from her in fear that she might jump at them again.

The councilor sighed while rubbing his forehead with his palm after looking at the results of the fight. "You kids need to know that we do not tolerate this kind of behavior in the academy, I will have to discuss what to do with you…" he turned his head and focused his sights at the redhead, "especially you young lady." He returned to writing something on a scroll, "Give me your names so I could have a talk with your parents."

All of the students, save for Kushina, expressed horrified disagreement to the councilor's judgment. Mikoto sighed, knowing that her family will surely be informed of what has happened to them, and she would have to suffer punishment for disgracing the Uchiha name. Tsume sighed as well, being the daughter of the Inuzuka clan head, her father would not be too pleased with this incident and would probably suffer some form of punishment.

Kushina looked at her friends' gloomy faces and felt that she has caused them some sort of trouble with what she did so she decided act. "Sir!" she exclaimed as she stood up and approached the councilor's table. "Uchiha Mikoto and Inuzuka Tsume had nothing to do with the fight, they even tried to stop me from attacking these scum. I'm willing to accept any punishment on their behalf, just don't involve them."

Mikoto and Tsume looked at their friend who had a determined look in her eyes. Kushina glanced back at the two and grinned before asking the councilor again, "These two had absolutely no part with what happened. I beg you sir, if I have to, I'll leave the academy, if it that's what it takes to clear their name."

Mikoto slowly stood up and looked at the councilor "Sir, I am just as liable as Uzumaki Kushina for this incident, since I was the cause of her actions; I am willing to accept any punishment, even expulsion, if necessary," saying this with a determination that even she herself was surprised.

"And I help out Kushina beat up these guys so I should be punished too." Tsume added.

Kushina looked at the two and was about to speak when Mikoto shook her head, Tsume simply nodded at the redhead and looked at the councilor. Kushina simply sighed and looked back at the councilor who simply looked at the three sternly, "Well then, I hope you three are prepared for the worst, for now, I will have you three stay here since the other kids are too beat up and terrified to speak." The councilor looked at the other faculty members and told them to take the kids to the infirmary and send the nurse after she has treated them to where they are. After the others had left, he led the three students to an empty classroom and bade them to enter. "You three will stay here for the rest of the day to think about what you have done. And don't even try escaping, because I'll know." Stating this before locking the door with a seal. Once outside he turned his attention to two young boys standing by the door. "Make sure nobody gets out, you two are currently the best we got, basing from test results so consider this one of those tests."

The two boys nodded in acknowledgment.

"Then I'll be counting on you, Uchiha Fugaku and Namikaze Minato" stated the councilor before heading back to his office.

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><p><strong>Well there you have it. I feel that it's badly written though so my apologies<strong>

**Please keep on reading, and please tell me if I do something wrong (in a nice way of course)**

**See you guys soon, bye-nii! ^_^**


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